Dormant
by HumanBarricade
Summary: Post 'Spider Verse Part Four' events. A little one-shot about Harry Osborn and his father's condition. Please let me know what you think.


**Post Spider Verse Part 4**

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 _"_ _The doctor says my dad suffered complete memory loss. Whatever happened to him in the past few years, he can't remember. We don't know if it'll ever come back. Do you realize what this means? The Goblin is gone. Forever."_

Harry hoped that was true. When he visited his dad outside the hospital and told Peter about his dad's condition, he completely believed his statement. The Goblin _had_ to be gone. He had a whole new opportunity to build a strong relationship with his father. Something seemed off, however. Norman had seemed a little too happy to see him.

He heard his dad open his office door. Harry turned off the TV. There was nothing good on. Sitting on the couch in the living room, he drank a soda. Maybe his dad wanted to eat out with him. The times they did that together were few and far between.

"Harry, have you seen my cell phone?" Norman asked, standing at the top of the stairs.

His tone wasn't degrading or annoyed for a change. He seemed genuinely puzzled. Earlier his father had dug around in the kitchen for something.

"Yeah, I think you left it in the kitchen somewhere," Harry replied.

Slowly, Norman declined the stairs while Harry stood up from the couch. Together they searched the kitchen for the phone. A few seconds later Harry held up the device triumphantly.

"I found it," he beamed.

"Ah, you're a good son, Harry. Thank you," Norman thanked as Harry gave the phone to his father. "Would you mind coming to my office with me? I'd like to talk to you about some things."

The question sounded odd. Usually if his dad wanted to talk to him it ended with him angry at either himself or his father. This time, however, he didn't seem to be in a bad mood. His dad still seemed strangely happy.

Slightly nervous and confused, Harry uttered, "Okay."

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," Norman assured as they climbed the stairs. "I just have some questions that need answering."

The office door stood half open. A light with the slightest green tinge gently emitted from inside. Norman pushed the door open with the pads of his fingertips and calmly sat down in his chair. Harry followed suit and sat in a chair next to his father.

Noticing the Oscorp files on the holographic computer screen, Norman asked, "I'm almost certain that you can't answer this question, but do you know how I ended up in the hospital? Do you know what happened to me?"

Harry let out a quiet sigh and replied, "The nurses said that Spider-man dropped you off. I guess he never said what happened to you. I have no idea. Maybe it was a car accident?"

He felt relieved that his father only wanted to discuss the past. Then again, the past presented its own challenges.

Norman shifted in his chair. His eyes were fixed on the computer screen. A document labeled _Dr. Otto Octavius: Deceased_ glared menacingly back. _Redacted_ had been digitally stamped in giant read letters over the whole thing. The document was nothing more than a blank paper beyond that.

"Strange, isn't it?" Norman asked, glancing over at Harry. "I wonder what I could be keeping from myself."

"I'm not sure," Harry mumbled.

His father couldn't really want to dig into that, did he? Some things were better buried.

"What do you know about this 'Spider-man' person? I've read a bit about him, but…" his father trailed off.

"He's just a superhero. He saved us both multiple times. Some people criticize him for being a vigilante. Even I used to until he protected us," Harry replied while looking at a picture of Spider-man on the computer screen.

"Saved us from what?" The question rang in Harry's ears.

He pursed his lips. He didn't want to bring up psycho ex-employees or the Goblin, but he didn't want to lie to his father.

"Bad guys who wanted to hurt us. You probably knew them, but I'd never seen them before," Harry replied vaguely.

 _Please don't dig into these things_ , Harry begged in his head.

"Hmm," Norman shrugged and turned to his screen. "Let's hope no more show up any time soon."

Waving away the screen, he looked over at Harry. Norman remembered mere fragments of the missing years in his memory. Little things like taking Harry and Peter out to eat, discussing his schedule with a secretary, avoiding budgets that tightened like nooses, Harry yelling at him, him yelling at Harry, and hiding countless secrets in his computer. He couldn't remember the separate passwords to access them. It was as if they didn't exist.

"Did you ever get into any sports?" Norman asked out of the blue.

Silently thanking his father for changing the subject, he loosened his grip on the chair.

"I played tennis freshman year and I tried football, but that just wasn't for me."

"Track would most likely suit you. If you want to try it, that is," Norman suggested.

Suddenly, Norman's phone began to ring. He picked up the phone. Harry couldn't read the name, or number, from his viewing angle.

"Sorry, I have to take this," his father apologized.

Whoa, his father apologized. That felt weird, but good.

"That's okay. I'm starting to feel tired," Harry feigned yawning.

Harry sluggishly trudged out of the room and slowly closed the door behind him. He _almost_ closed the door. A mere slit of air separated the door from its frame. Norman answered the call with an angered tone.

"You should not call me before ten o'clock," he warned.

He paused, letting the other person reply.

"Spider-man, you know him, correct?" Norman asked, waving the computer screen back on.

Another pause. Grinning, he pulled up a picture of an Oscorp spider.

"Yes, it would make sense that they are connected. You wouldn't happen to know what he pulled me out of, do you?"

Everything became deathly silent. Not even a buzz on the phone could be heard.

"I guess I'll have to ask him myself, if I ever get the chance. You know, the more I look at him the more he seems so familiar. I feel like I once knew who he was. Before I recall a name, however, I'm thrust out of the memory."

Harry clutched his mouth. His dad found out who Spiderman was. So many questions arose, but he knew his amnesiac father couldn't answer them.

"There's a meeting I have to attend on Friday. My absent memory is going to hinder me for a while," Norman kept droning on, but Harry left.

Stupid Oscorp stuff didn't interest him. He kept wondering who Spider-man could be. Could he be someone he knew? Maybe that would explain how Norman figured it out. Maybe he unmasked him while he was the Goblin.

Quietly, Harry walked to his bedroom. Everything always seemed to lead to Spider-man. Then again his father had hunted him down, or at least attempted to, numerous times. Did Spider-man know that Norman once knew? Did he know that he had forgotten? Did he know that he might remember?

Falling back onto his bed, Harry sighed. He couldn't know the answers. Should he tell Spider-man? How would he contact him? He had hunted Spider-man himself before, but he had Venom then.

"Venom," Harry whispered, feeling out the name in his mouth.

He extended his right hand up towards the ceiling. Was Venom really gone? The symbiote hadn't reared its ugly head in months. It wouldn't have waited so long. It, like the Goblin, also had to be gone.

"Nothing is ever really gone in this family," he sighed as he sat up.

A full moon crept over Manhattan. The city lights competed with it, yet they weren't as blinding as they could have been on a foggy night. Swinging throughout the skyscrapers had been fun for him while it lasted, but it was more for Spider-man himself to enjoy. Two would've been a crowd.

Harry still wondered what it would have been like if Venom hadn't turned. He too could have been a hero, but instead he ended up being an antihero. At least he didn't end up a villain like his father.

"Now we're both dormant," he mumbled, pressing his hand to the cool glass window. "And I can only hope that it stays that way."

Turning to go to bed, he noticed something move outside in his peripheral vision. Quickly, he turned back. Spider-man swung up from one of the nearby buildings and seemed to hover in midair in front of the moon. Just as soon as he appeared he swung back down, disappearing back into the city.

"Just who are you?" Harry asked, gazing out the window.

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 **Please review! I really appreciate it.**


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